NFL
By: Randall Gimm
Jamahal “Sweet Dreams” Hill just captured his first UFC Championship in the Light Heavyweight division. A division that was once dominated by Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones, Tito Ortiz, and The Iceman Chuck Lidell. This division has produced some of the most notable fighters in the UFC, and now it is time to see if Jamahal Hill can fit that mold.
Hill started his professional MMA career with Knockout Promotions (KOP). He would go 5-0 there before getting the call from the UFC President, Dana White, himself for the Dana White contender series. The contender series is an opportunity for young fighters with good records/performances to get a single fight under the UFC’s umbrella, to see if they can impress the President of the UFC enough to get an official UFC contract.
As his fight began on the contender series, former UFC Bantamweight champion turned analyst, Dominick Cruz knew that Hill liked to use his left high kick to start fights. Cruz also mentioned how Hill doesn’t show it or in other words “telegraph” it, to where a defending fighter can see it.
Hill used this same method of attack against the former light heavyweight champion, Glover Teixeira this past weekend to capture the light heavyweight title. Hill put on a striking clinic against Teixeria, and I thought this was the crispest and quick I’ve seen him. Or has he been like this all along?
Hill is 12-1-1 with his only loss coming from submission specialist Paul Craig, who fought on the same card as Hill this past weekend and got TKO’d by Johnny Walker. Walker also fought Hill but got knocked out viciously, ending up on the wrong end of the highlight reel. In combat sports, there is the punching target on an opponent referred to as, ‘the off button’. The ‘off button’ lies on the side of the chin and can knock any opponent out if the strike hits that specific spot. When Hill knocked out Walker, he hit him in the top left portion of his head. That punch had to have been so hard and so disorienting for Walker to have been knocked out like that.
Hill had some phenomenal stats on Glover Teixeira this past weekend: 248/419 total strikes landed and 180 of those landed strikes hit Teixeira in the head. Teixeira’s face was swollen, cut up, and a doctor actually checked his vision during the fight because of how his cuts and swelling were crowding his eyes. Not to mention all the blood that would fill those swollen crevasses. Hill went on to win by unanimous decision and after the fight, Hill said, “I don’t know anybody who would have been able to take what I was throwing and keep going”.
Hill is the first fighter from Dana White’s Contender Series to become a UFC champion and he did it in three years’ time. He came into this fight with one of the greatest quotes of all time. He said, “I have nothing to lose… now I can see if I have it or I don’t… and either way, I’ll get my answer”. Hill now has his answer and has achieved his sweet dreams. Now, he has absolute monsters in his division that are hunting for that gold. Will he have that same fire and dedication to build onto his craft and mental fortitude? That is what I’ll be excited to see as we see more from Jamahal Hill.
